Does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

Does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

I want to increase the speed of the wireless network within my home. I have the i3812V iNID outside and have the 18 mbps service. I know the service speed from AT&T cannot be increased by changing to wireless n within my home, but it should do wonders inside, So, does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

Re: Does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

Yes, there is a new RG, the Motorola NVG589, that combines the outside iNID, the giant battery backup box, and the RG into one smaller box. You'll also get Wireless N, Gigabit Ethernet, true bridgeable mode, and 40 MhZ bonded mode for 300 mbps wireless speeds (That speed of course is only found in the lab, and you won't see that kind of speed in real life. It will be faster than normal Wireless N.). The trick of course will be getting one...

Re: Does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

Please note this product is currently in limited markets and primarily used for new bonded pair installs, some replacements for problematic inid repairs.If your market area is currently active do not know but all markets should have by end of year, best bet would be purchase n router placed behind i38? Or wait?

Employee Contributor*

*I am an AT&T employee and the postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent AT&T's position, strategies or opinions.

Re: Does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

Trying to place your own router behind any of the other current RG's offered by AT&T will be a horrible experience for you. Everything that you will be linked to and offered as a "workaround" because none of their previous RG's that support IPTV will really allow you to put them into a true bridge mode. It's all just horrific kludges and workarounds to sort of make things mostly sort of work. Seriously. I've done it. At the time I had no choice if I truly wanted to make my Plex Media Server function as intended, correctly open up required holes in my firewall for specific software with proper port forwarding, as well as simple things like having my wired and wireless networks combined so WiFi remote control apps on my phones and tablets could find the devices they were supposed to control.

Did I mention how awful these workarounds are to implement?

Did I mention how much they suck in day to day use for many applications and software?

Seriously, y'all should be ashamed for ever offering RG's this screwed up to begin with, and you should be even more ashamed that you never offered a firmware update to unlock a true bridge mode in them. You should be triply ashamed if the inability to enter a true bridge mode was permanently disabled in hardware, and every last person from the very top to the bottom who had a hand in approving such crippled pieces of equipment should not just be fired, but blacklisted from ever working in the industry again! Yes, they are/were THAT bad!

So yeah... Call and complain constantly. Have techs out to your home at LEAST once a month. Be the worst thorn in AT&T's side until they finally give you one of the new NVG589's just to shut you up and make you go away. Yes, that sounds ugly, and yes the AT&T employees here won't like my suggestion, but it's how the game is played and they created the game and the rules, so do what you must in order to become a satisfied customer. Because in the end, it isn't about making AT&T or their employees happy. It's about them making you a happy and satisfied customer able to fully use the service(s) that you are quite frankly paying a lot of money for in the way that YOU want to use them.

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

Winaux overstates the case quite a lot: Many, MANY people have been able to set up a router behind the RG and get exactly what they wanted it to do.

Is it perfect? Heck no.

Does it work for most people? Yes.

"Does it work for most people? Yes," is kind of like saying that driving on 4 flat tires works for most people. Yes, your car will move, but it's far from ideal and you wouldn't want to do it on a daily basis.

As to the usual comments made by AT&T employees in this forum regarding that most people don't need anything faster than Wireless G, Wirelss G is just passable for people who just want to fiddle around on the Internet. It is however totally unacceptable for people who actually USE their wireless network, and by extension 100MB wired Ethernet falls into the same category as Wireless G, as well as their wired network for things like media streaming, file transfer, security cameras, etc WITHIN their OWN networks. Wireless N and GIgabit routing are actually very important for those things, and by the constant flood of posts asking how to bridge their own quality router, or find a Wireless N/Gigabit RG, it should be patently obvious that numbers of people using their routers as such is exploding. Trying to pretend that this isn't happening and/or that people don't know what they need and why is, at the very least, disengenuous, and insulting in many cases,

Re: Does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

Winaux overstates the case quite a lot: Many, MANY people have been able to set up a router behind the RG and get exactly what they wanted it to do.

Is it perfect? Heck no.

Does it work for most people? Yes.

"Does it work for most people? Yes," is kind of like saying that driving on 4 flat tires works for most people. Yes, your car will move, but it's far from ideal and you wouldn't want to do it on a daily basis.

As to the usual comments made by AT&T employees in this forum regarding that most people don't need anything faster than Wireless G, Wirelss G is just passable for people who just want to fiddle around on the Internet. It is however totally unacceptable for people who actually USE their wireless network, and by extension 100MB wired Ethernet falls into the same category as Wireless G, as well as their wired network for things like media streaming, file transfer, security cameras, etc WITHIN their OWN networks. Wireless N and GIgabit routing are actually very important for those things, and by the constant flood of posts asking how to bridge their own quality router, or find a Wireless N/Gigabit RG, it should be patently obvious that numbers of people using their routers as such is exploding. Trying to pretend that this isn't happening and/or that people don't know what they need and why is, at the very least, disengenuous, and insulting in many cases,

Second paragraph first:

(a) the person who said that was not an AT&T Employee. AT&T Employees are clearly identified as such.

(b) 802.11g is capable of up to 25 Mbps. Which is more than anyone on AT&T U-verse is currently capable of pushing through their Internet connection. It's fast enough to stream almost anything but 1080p/30 uncompressed video. It is fast enough for most home uses.

Is 802.11g fast enough for everyone? No.

Is 802.11n faster? Usually.

Is 802.11n the last word? No, 802.11ac is on the way.

Can you currently use an 802.11n access point and or router in you home with AT&T U-verse and the currently available 2WIRE 3600/3800/3801/3812 RG's? Yes, absolutely.

Can you use a gigabit switch for your internal network with a 2WIRE 3600/3800/3801/3812 RG? Yes, absolutely.

4 flat tires don't work for most people, but hooking a router behind an RG is not anything like running with 4 flat tires. The wireless and routing functionality in the RG is beginner/basic stuff. If you want something better, you can easily get it. Are there limitations, sure, but they don't even bother most people who want more than the RG provdies. It's a good, long term solution.

Just because it doesn't work for you, doesn't mean it won't work for the majority. I hope that AT&T will bring out better, faster equipment, but I'm willing to use what I have--that works fine--until then. And I want to help others use that same equipment to get enjoyment out of their Internet experience as well. Pitching fits about not having the latest and greatest specs built into the provided hardware isn't helpful in that regard.

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: Does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

While that particular poster may not be an AT&T employee, that particular line has been used by AT&T employees in many threads, including ones that I have started.

I made clear that I was refering to INTERNAL networking needs, and not your standard browsing behavior. For those purposes, and let's all be very honest about this particular point, wireless and wired speeds ARE paramount. Not only that, but so many of the router behind router questions invariably revolve around someone wanting to do something with their INTERNAL network, and not someone expecting that Wireless N is going to make Facebook peppier, or their YouTube videos play smoother. They are people needing specific functionality for their own INTERNAL network(s) that AT&T's RG's have not previously supplied. Those people don't want or need to hear about how faster wired and wireless connections won't speed up their browsing because AT&T doesn't support a faster profile than blah, blah, blah. It's neither pertinent nor germain to the discussion.

I started a thread over 2 years ago asking why AT&T didn't have the RG that is now sitting in my networking closet. Throughout that thread, and I'm about 99.99% sure that you contributed to said conversation, I spoke about Wireless N already being on the way out, and Wireless AC coming soon, then in pre-certification release, and finally released. Wireless G and wired 10/100 was already bargain bin tech when those RG's were released, and they haven't miraculously made a comeback. All that old tech Wireless B/G and 10/100 legacy gear does to your INTERNAL network is slow everything down to the lowest common denominator.

So while the new Motorola NVG589 does have GIgabit Ethernet and MIMO antennas, it's still saddled with what is now old, legacy tech in the form of Wireless N single band. Why they didn't include Wireless AC is beyond me. Especially coming from a company whose entire business model is based upon delivering TV and telephony via the Internet and networking technology. The only way that AT&T's approach to the tech in their RG's makes any sense is when viewed through the lense of corporate execs getting MASSIVE bonuses by coming in under budget on the RG's.

What I am though is a realist, and having suffered first hand through AT&T's previous track record on putting new'ish tech into their RG's, I know that Wireless N is the best we're going to see for at least the next 2-3 years, and by the time they put Wireless AC into their RG's, there will have been a new wireless spec created, debated, ratified, and implmented and we'll be having the exact same argument then as we are now.

Re: Does AT&T offer a wireless n RG to replace wireless g i38HG RG?

While "802.11ac" is being sold, the 802.11ac standard is not yet ratified.

... Why they didn't include Wireless AC is beyond me

Again, it is not yet ratified. It stands as a draft standard and is subject to change. Likely? No. Possible? Yes. When you're literally buying millions of devices, the risk is just not worth it.

...

And you can still purchase your own gigabit ethernet switch and "802.11ac" access point and use it today in your AT&T-served home.

Personally, I wish they would just go back to using a "dumb" modem without any router or wireless functionality. Then we'd all be back to picking out the technology we need and can quit arguing about what is included in the modem. Especially now, since they're charging a premium for the device because it has the extra functionality.

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: NVG589

Can you explain in simple, somewhat non-technical terms the following?:

Currently have 2Wire479 (3801hvg) (with Download Speed up to 24 Mbps) and traditional landline.

* Does the NVG589 only work with fiber optic networks?

It works with Fiber Optic networks in the same way that the 3801hvg you have now does. It will work over one (or two pair, which your 3801hvg doesn't do) copper pairs or will connect to a fiber ONT on your home using Twisted Pair cabling.

* What really makes the determination of whether it would work or not?

I don't understand this question.

* If a profile has to be "changed" what does that really mean?

The VRAD and RG (meaning the 3801 or 589) use the frequencies in an arrangement that is called a profile; this profile is determined by AT&T and configured on your account. The profile is normally determined by the assumed quality of the lines going to your house and by what services you need. Three examples: 12 Mbps Internet only customers are likely to get a profile that provides less than 20 Mbps of raw data rate; a long 2800' loop between the VRAD and the RG may require a profile that avoids high frequencies that attenuate out faster (25/3); a short loop of 500' with IPTV service will currently get a high-bandwidth 32/5 Mbps profile.

*The views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party.

Re: NVG589

Can you explain in simple, somewhat non-technical terms the following?:

Currently have 2Wire479 (3801hvg) (with Download Speed up to 24 Mbps) and traditional landline.

* Does the NVG589 only work with fiber optic networks?

* What really makes the determination of whether it would work or not?

* If a profile has to be "changed" what does that really mean?

TIA

The NVG589 will work with fiber optic right to your house (FTTP) or the more common fiber to the node.

As long as you have a VDSL signal (3600, 3800, 3801, i3812, 5031 RGs) then it would work.

A profile being changed means that the amount of bandwidth coming to your RG is changed. You have an internet speed of 24/3, so your RG must be on a 32/5 profile. This means your RG is linked up with the system at 32Mb down and 5Mb up. This is getting is split between TV, VOIP, and internet.